I am restoring two radios; same model. One I had to do a complete rewire job on because of the deterioration of the wiring. The other is not too bad yet. Is it a bad idea to treat these wires that are "on the edge" of turning brittle with some of the Rubber Rejuvenator stuff you can buy at RadioDaze and AES? Here is a good article about this at
http://www.philcoradio.com/tech/wiring.htm but they do not mention wire that is still not to the brittle stage yet.
Bob

I know a guy that "paints" them with super glue. I've done that on a few myself...just as a way to keep the insulation from falling off. Don't know exactly what the limits are, but I do know they are there for super glues when it comes to high voltage. Never had a problem with painting a few wires here and there, but probably a good idea to keep clear of B+ lines. Maybe someoune out there has definitive info?
Jim

Often I'll just lift only one end and then slide small gauge heat shrink sleeving over them.
I don't heat them up, just leave them. Though a heat gun would work fine.
Saves a lot of time .

:Often I'll just lift only one end and then slide small gauge heat shrink sleeving over them.
:I don't heat them up, just leave them. Though a heat gun would work fine.
:Saves a lot of time .
:
If the insulation is still in place and just cracked you can paint it with liquid insulation (available at WalMart) or PVC pipe adhesive (clear). Both are PVC based in solvent.

Ok I was not very clear in my question...I am basically wondering if you can use that rubber rejuvenator on the general wiring below the chassis.
It is not crumbling or cracking...yet... but I would guess that it will eventually start to do what the other identical set has done...insulation has just crumbled away. The wiring throughout the set has little salt-like crystals on them sparingly here and there also. I am wondering what this is too? The set is a Zenith 6D525 I think from about 1941. Ok to put
that stuff on or dangerous? Anyone tell me?
Thanks,
Bob

::Often I'll just lift only one end and then slide small gauge heat shrink sleeving over them.
::I don't heat them up, just leave them. Though a heat gun would work fine.
::Saves a lot of time .
::
:If the insulation is still in place and just cracked you can paint it with liquid insulation (available at WalMart) or PVC pipe adhesive (clear). Both are PVC based in solvent.

I have noticed that powdery crystalline crap on some radios to.
Esp the 6d525 and other rubber wire sets.
But I think that stuff is primarily on the B+ wires.
I wonder what's happening there?

:I have noticed that powdery crystalline crap on some radios to.
:Esp the 6d525 and other rubber wire sets.
:But I think that stuff is primarily on the B+ wires.
:I wonder what's happening there?

Peter:
Back in my airline days, I had occasion to work on strobe lights, they work about 400 Volts, and are insulated with Teflon. At the places where the insulation ended, you could see some deteroration on some of the older ones. We concluded that it was a small amount of ozone produced by the high Voltage that was attacking the teflon. I guess it would be worse for rubber. While on the subject of capacitors (they flash the lights, you know) we would slowly put rated Voltage on the caps, usually 450 Volts, and measure the leakage after a few minutes. I forgot the limits, but the good ones didn't leak (<5 MA.), while the bad ones took off like a skyrocket long before rated Voltage. I don't remember the limit, because I never used it. Good was real good, bad was horrid, just like a little girl of nursery rhyme fame.
Lewis

::I have noticed that powdery crystalline crap on some radios to.
::Esp the 6d525 and other rubber wire sets.
::But I think that stuff is primarily on the B+ wires.
::I wonder what's happening there?
:
:Peter:
:Back in my airline days, I had occasion to work on strobe lights, they work about 400 Volts, and are insulated with Teflon. At the places where the insulation ended, you could see some deteroration on some of the older ones. We concluded that it was a small amount of ozone produced by the high Voltage that was attacking the teflon. I guess it would be worse for rubber. While on the subject of capacitors (they flash the lights, you know) we would slowly put rated Voltage on the caps, usually 450 Volts, and measure the leakage after a few minutes. I forgot the limits, but the good ones didn't leak (<5 MA.), while the bad ones took off like a skyrocket long before rated Voltage. I don't remember the limit, because I never used it. Good was real good, bad was horrid, just like a little girl of nursery rhyme fame.
:Lewis
:
:White powder is most likely rubber additives exuding to the surface. To protect detiorating wires that are still intact, consider painting (with an artist Brush) with a liquid polyurethane such as MinWax wipe on polyurethane.
Nick